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Jesse Sheppard is seen in a recent family photo. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing numerous musical instruments, said his grandmother, Connie Wood. |
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Jesse Wood Sheppard’s family and friends will remember Saturday as “The Day the Music Died.”
Sheppard, 18, of 825 Salem Highway, Stuart, died about 5:45 p.m. Saturday in an accident on Interstate 95 near Benson, N.C.He was returning home from a beach trip to mark his June 6 graduation from Patrick County High School, according to his grandmother, Connie Wood.
While he will be remembered for many things, Sheppard’s love of music is near the top of the list, Wood said.
“Jesse loved all kinds” of music, she said. He planned to start classes at Patrick Henry Community College this fall and hoped to transfer to East Tennessee State University within two years, where he planned to study music. Sheppard wanted to become a high school band instructor, she said.
He already had been accepted at East Tennessee, Wood said.
Sheppard, the son of Eric Sheppard of Stuart and Wendy Wood Sheppard of Woolwine, encouraged all youngsters to pursue music. He aspired to teach his sister, 7-year-old Sarah Sheppard, to play guitar, his grandmother said.
“Music and sharing it with kids is what he was all about,” she said.
A member of a Praise and Worship Team for five years, Sheppard visited several churches in the area while the team performed an hour-long show that “was just beautiful,” Wood said.
“These young people practiced before their school day” began, she said.
Sheppard was a member of the Peter’s Creek Baptist Church in Stuart.
He had a passion for bluegrass music and performed with the DownTown Boys, Wood said of a bluegrass group that often performed at the Historic Star Theatre in Stuart.
Sheppard was proficient with several instruments, playing various guitars, the mandolin, electric bass and a stand-up bass his grandparents bought him for his birthday, Wood said.
“He loved that” bass, she said, adding Sheppard also played the drums and other percussion instruments and was on the drum line for the high school band.
During his senior year in high school, Sheppard decided to learn to play a French horn “because he wanted to learn something different,” Wood said.
His classmates and teachers loved him, she said.
“Jesse was sort of like a pet” with his teachers, often clowning around with them, Wood said.
He loved drama, and participated in a production of “High School Musical” during his senior year and “Grease” while a junior.
A 4-H All Star, Sheppard dedicated last summer to working at various camps and counseling youngsters, Wood said. “He planned to start in two weeks with a summer full of counseling” at various camps.
He also enjoyed several hobbies.
“He loved fishing and going to the cabin and hunting with his granddaddy,” Wood said. “Jesse was a wonderful boy,” had a great sense of humor and was always smiling.
In fact, Sheppard was nearly as well-known for his ready smile and easy-going personality as for his musical prowess, Wood said.
Recently, the family held a party to celebrate his graduation from Patrick County High School. As usual, Sheppard entertained everyone by performing, Wood said.
Sheppard and two friends, Jonathan Robert Corns and Christopher Bryce Howell, left for the beach Friday morning to mark the recent graduation, Wood said.
When returning home, the three were traveling in a 1998 Lincoln, heading north in the right lane of I-95, near Benson, N.C., police have said.
The Lincoln was changing lanes when it sideswiped a 2001 Mitsubishi, ran off the right side of the road, struck a “No Parking” sign and flipped several times, through a hedgerow, before landing on its tires, according to police.
Howell, 19, of 4734 Moorefield Store Road, and Corns, 19, of 2867 Abram Penn Highway, Critz, both were injured. They are expected to recover, Wood said she understands.
Sheppard, who was traveling in the back seat, was not wearing a seat belt, police said. He died from injuries sustained after being ejected from the vehicle.
His loss will be felt for years to come, his grandmother said.
“Everybody loved him,” Wood said. “I’m not just saying this because he’s my grandson, but he’s one of the nicest kids you’d ever meet. He had God in his heart.” |
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